


Elephant In The Room

by breakwayfearles



Category: NCIS
Genre: Slibbs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:08:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29594652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breakwayfearles/pseuds/breakwayfearles
Summary: What if he had gone after her when the eulogy for Palmer's wife ended?
Relationships: Jethro Gibbs/Jacqueline "Jack" Sloane
Comments: 4
Kudos: 77





	Elephant In The Room

Her words were a broken record on loop in his mind. Echoing as he moved. Her words felt as a ghost had entered his life once again. Her and the word he though she would never say: **leaving**. It felt as if a burden had landed on his chest, as if a rock had been thrown against his already broken heart. The word caught him by surprise and for a moment, it all felt as if it was just a dream. Her eyes were telling him this was a reality he was not prepared for. One he had not seen coming. Another one he had not seen coming. But there was sadness where once fire had stood. There was fear where once certainty had been king. And there was nothing he could say because he too had once run away from it all to a beach in Mexico.   
  
_Slow down_ that was her wish: to slow down.

He pulled her closer to him as Palmer read the letter he had written to his wife. She was right as she always was. Who would be there to tell him as it is? Who would not be scared of his glares? And the way he spoke without stating a word. Who would he go to when he’d need to talk? Or to just be in the silence in the comfort of her embrace? Because with her it was easy. It was easy just being. And in that moment of sadness, in their bullpen, holding her hand made everything feel right.

_Jack_ he whispered her name as the rest of the team got ready to leave. She turned to face him. He cleared the tears on her cheek as her eyes were still red from crying. She waited for him to speak _What?_ she asked when silence was all she got. _Nothing_ he said with a small smile. The same grin that would make her heart skip a beat. She kissed his knuckles before returning the smile to him. The same smile that would make his heart skip a beat. She smiled to him once more before she walked back to her office.

  
_Goodnight, Gibbs  
Good night, boss_

He could hear his team say as they walked out and on the way to their homes. Home. His house hasn’t felt much as one in a long time. Home, what a fun word you can find in a person. The same person who was not far away from him but far enough from his reach.   
  
Home.  
  
How can home fit into a person? How can a person feel like a home?

  
Home.  
She was his home.  
  
He abruptly closed the case file, which first line he had re-read way too many times, creating a sound so loud the entire building could hear. Or at least it seem so in such an empty room. He got up from his seat with determination in his eyes and confidence in his posture. He walked up the stairs two steps at at time and in his usually way he walked into her office without knocking at the door.  
  
 _Took you long enough_ she said assured he’d come to talk with her.

_Jack_ he said as he approached her desk

_What?_ she asked without taking her eyes away from the paper she was reading. Silent stood between the town as he stand over her, watching her. As silence was all the reply she had from him, she looked up only to meet his piercing blue eyes starring back at her. _What?_ she asked once more.  
  
 _Don’t go_ his voice steading but almost barely.

She put down the pen she was holding and looked back at him not saying a word. She wasn’t able to go through all the doubts, fears and screams inside her head again. Making them having a voice out loud for someone else to hear. She took a deep breathe as she took off her glasses before pressing her temples trying to suppress a headache wanting to arrive. She leaned against the chair as she put her arms up in the air not knowing exactly what to say but safe in his silence. _I… I… I…_ she tried to come up with a reason, one single reason.

He smirked, the woman who always had an answer in the tip of her tongue was finding herself lost at words. The one who always had a way to read him without him saying a word was now being read in her loss of words.

_Jack_ but she cut him off _what do you want me to say, Gibbs?_ she said as she got up from her seat _We’ve been through this .. I … I … need to slow down_

_Costa Rica?_ he said

 _Mexico?_ she replied back

She was about to go around her desk when his hand on her wrist made her stop _Don’t go_ he said once again before whispering in her ear _don’t leave me, Jacqueline_ her body chilled when his hand moved to touch her hip and her full name came out of his lips. _Damn it, Jack_ he didn’t move and he didn’t let her move.

She closed her eyes finding herself lost at words once again. She chuckled to herself, funny how life turns around. He, the man who says everything without letting a word out, was doing all the talk while she, the woman who reads all his thoughts, was having her mind read by him.  
  
 _Damn it, Jack_ he said again when he heard her chuckle _I love you_ he said out loud for the first time. She looked to meet his gaze and before she had chance to even make a thought all the dreams she had once had were coming alive. Before she had had a chance to even begin to form a word his lips were on hers, his body pressing against her making her lose her balance and slightly hitting the wall making both laugh as they tried to prevent the painting, he had given, from falling.

Her face had gotten serious, her hands on his chest, her eyes locked on his _I love you, Leroy_ he laughed knowing it was payback for calling her Jacqueline.

The elephant was no longer in the room.


End file.
